Insurgent of Rome Page 39

  "Someno...flackes?" Julius had never heard the word.

  "Somatophylakes." Now he gestured the other way along the procession, obviously still in explanation of some matter. "The..." He paused, trying to remember some term that would be familiar to the Roman. Finally, "... Praetorians, mayhap, in your tongue. Aye, guards well compensated and coddled, and oathed to the Queen Mother." Now in an even quieter voice, he said, "You do not wish to be questioned by the Eparchos of that unit. His deeds would cause even the domineer of Hades to give pause."

  Julius merely nodded and shrugged. All lands had elite vigilis and denuntiatoris skilled in extracting... the truth from a man accused. Even in Rome, the prison of the Mamertine, had its methods that were not discussed with pleasure by the citizenry in the light of day.

  Soon they were at the entrance of the Palace proper, and the procession fragmented into groups moving to their proper stations, with Julius following the King and Queen Mother down the long hall to the informal chambers. At the entrance to the private quarters, the woman turned and said, "Kapetánios. Take your rest and a meal. We will talk later when Polykleitos brings word of his findings. Mnesiphilos! See to the comfort of the Kapetánios and give him quarters in the blue rooms."

  Julius had no idea of who Polykleitos was, but assumed that it might be the leader of the Somato... whatever the elite unit of the Queen Mother was called. He bowed, then turned to follow the Chamberlain a few strides down the hall, then aside into an opulent room, draped with curtains of a brilliant blue tint that he had never seen before. For a Captain used to a low cabin only two strides in any direction, he was as a single barrel of cargo in the hold of a large merchant ship. Indeed, the size of this room was as great or greater than even a noble atrium in his city of Capua.

  And unnecessary. All he needed was the lounging chair and a cup, the first already being offered by a servant and the other being filled at his hand. He nodded, then said, "Aye. Leave me for now." He had nothing to do but ponder on the morrow until the conference with the Royals, but he had barely begun his thoughts when Pontika strolled through the door. Julius grinned to himself. He doubted that few orphani around the world - indeed, in all history - had been given the rise as had come to the young woman. When first brought into his crew, she had worn the same garb as any other crewman - a loincloth or ragged work-tunic, although later and after her startling change in gender, she wore habiliments more suited to her sex. But now, the Korí was dressed in a spotless white stola - nay, in this land it was the same garment but called a Chiton - an ankle length robe of light material, draped over the shoulders for support, and low in the front to expose a hint of the mammae of the woman. Of course, in the case of the young girl, at least another year or two would be needed before she could give much expose of that particular female form.

  "I see that you have been adopted into the Royal Family as princess, it appears. One hopes that you will remember your lowly comrades when you are seated on the throne."

  Ebullient as always, she grinned and spun around, allowing the flowing robes to flare out in the turn. "I am merely garbing as the Queen Mother has ordered. But, it is certainly more fetching than the dirty rag I was wearing when first I came to the Petrel."

  He let his grin change into a smile, then asked, "What are your plans, now that you apparently have the friendship of a Kingly family?"

  The girl dropped into a chair, her expression becoming serious now. "The Queen Mother has given promise to restore the house of my family and the merchantry taken from my Patéras..."

  Julius tilted his head with a query in his eyes. "But..."

  She paused for a time, then, "What do I know of grain sales and such? And even with the support of such an august patron, a mere Korí cannot take on such a vocation. My desire is to again be a crewman on the Petrel." Raising a hand to stop the inevitable reply, she smiled and said, "Aye. I know well that such is impossible, but that does not change my yearning."

  Julius made reply with a wry expression. "You would be a member of my crew of proven value, and with the approval of all, but... Alas, it cannot be."

  She nodded in agreement, then said, "The noble Camelia has given offer of both education and placement within your city. With such support, I could marry well and become the Matron of a wealthy merchant."

  He thought for a moment, then replied, "You could do that as well, here in your land and without strangeness of custom to learn."

  With a look of sadness she waved at the servant at the doorway, waiting until she deposited a plate of sweetmeats and a basket of fruit on the table. Taking an apple, she said, "You are speaking from the place of a man. Your feet can carry you anywhere you wish, and you can give contention if any give inhibit to your desires. It is the same with men of this land." He had some notion of what she was about to say, but waited for her words. "Here, women do not leave the house without permission of their man, nor walk the streets should they feel the need to wander in need of alleviation of their daily tedium." She bit into the fruit, still looking into the eyes of Julius. "In Capua, I saw Matrons and even Korí... feminae walking the streets and the Forum with no company of any but each other. And without fear of being accosted by rowdies. Camelia gave me that the... Vigilis..." Julius nodded. "...the Vigilis would descend in their combined ire upon the head of any man who gave offense to an unaccompanied woman."

  He nodded. "You have given much thought to your next... movements. And I can only agree with Camelia - a man would do well to take you as his companion in life, although I fear that he might be given some surprise at the mettle of his new mate."

  She grinned. "And yourself? I agree with Patroclus - you would be foolish indeed to allow the noble woman to escape your clutches."

  Somewhat thrown aback at the sudden reference to a matter that he had not assumed was common talk, he just spread his hands and said, "That is a matter that will be adjudicated when we return, assuming that we leave this land with a whole skin..."

  He stopped his jape as Timotheus entered. "Greetings, Kapetánios. The King sends his pleasure and requires your attendance."

  Julius immediately rose, as did Pontika, walking to stand before the court official. Quietly, he asked, "What of the mood in the streets? Is their indications of some perfidy to the throne?"

  Timotheus looked around to see if any ears were close, then answered as quietly, "Nay. All in the Palace are stumbling over each other in their attempts to emphasize their loyalty. The proclamations may even be sincere, but I have thought that much of the declared innocence is their fear of Polykleitos and his men."

  They walked the short distance to the private chambers. Seated in the chairs were both the King and his mother, but another man was standing before them. Large, and of an age to be both experienced and still with young sinews, he might have been mistaken for Melglos from behind. This had to be the... what did Timotheus call the leader of the Queen Mother's security detail... the Eparchos of the unit.

  That fact was quickly confirmed as Antiochus greeted Julius as he entered, Pontika following behind and Timotheus bowing his way out of the room. "Kapetánios. This is Polykleitos, commander of the Somatophylakes and with confirmation of your own findings." Now the man looked around at the Roman, nodding abruptly to acknowledge his presence. The resemblance to the big Thracian ended. The face of the commander was scarred, even enough to be seen through the thick beard, and the expression was... less than amicable to an unknown stranger. "As you had suspected, the agents of Dionysophanes had wormed into the ranks of both guards and the caretaker servants, all waiting to foment hatred against the legitimate rulers of this land. Even within the city, certain malefactors were waiting for the sign to stir up the common people in revolt."

  This was not something that gave surprise to Julius, but his wonder was at the source of the schemes. To his question, the King shook his head and replied, "Nay, we have had no affirmation that Tigranes is the instigator, but the men that Polykleitos has... queried are mere tools
used from above."

  Julius assumed that the mentioned subjects of the query were no longer available for questioning on this side of the river Styx, and had some doubt of any statement given by a man under the tactics of inquiry by such as Polykleitos - or the Interrogavi of Rome, for that matter. Still, such did not concern himself or his men. "Shall we continue with the remaining part of our plans?"

  "Aye," replied the King. "How long before you are in stance?"

  "Two days, if the winds are fair. I will send a missive when we are in place. If you can have a horse-messenger waiting in Persidium, then the notice can be within a single day."

  Now the Queen Mother spoke for the first time. "I would have your little ward remain behind. A mission such as yours is not a desirable place for a Korí."

  Julius knew that the stricture would not be welcomed by Pontika, but he would have made the same decision even without the command of the woman. "Then, I will be off. There is no reason for delay and much to give worry that our plans might be anticipated..."

  Chapter 32

  The sea was choppy and with considerable depth to the swells from the storm the night before, but the day was clear and the sun was bright. Julius was standing on the afterdeck, next to Judoc on the rudder haft, and trying to keep his smile of satisfaction under control. He had not realized the extent of his desire for the open sea and the deck of the Petrel until he was back onboard. With a fresh, if worn tunic, and a face that was finally cleanly shaven of the despicable beard, he felt as a new man.

  Forward, Kaeso, was giving some mild contemplation over a map that was spread on the little table. Ngozi and Melglos were in relax at the forepeak, both still showing the red lines of scars, but either a whole man again. Densus and Flavius were out of his vision, the former down in preparation for the midday meal and the Carpenter no doubt in his continual search for leaks and failing joints.

  Only Pontika and Patroclus were missing from his roster. The Sage was back in Salamis with the merchant ship of Fundanus, in wait for the conclusion of this... scheme. As to the Korí, she had brought a beatitudinis and an exsultationis to the ship during her time as crewman, and all now missed that habitual goodness of spirit that the boy, now a girl, exhibited on every new day. But... with any favor from the gods, she would trod the decks again, although as a passenger rather than a member of the crew.

  Still, the Petrel was not as before, during its dashes across the wide Sea from here to there. Now, as unusual as such might be thought, it was carrying passengers - of a sort. The twenty Legionaries and the Centurion made a light load, but a crowded deck for the vessel. For now, they were lounging in groups, some in converse, or dicing, or even that favorite activity of a soldier - resting while there was a chance of doing so. Fortunately, by now they had spent enough of their days on a ship that even the storm of the previous night made no effect of quease on their beings.

  Flavius had given early, that the tempest - of a moderate nature and giving little of worry to the Captain during the blow - had made no slightest damage of the vessel. That was to be expected - few vessels on any sea of the world were as seaworthy as the Petrel. Even the streamer at the peak of the mast was still whole, its crossed black bars giving easy identity to the ship by both family ships and the officials of ports all around the Great Sea.

  The hours passed, then a hail came down the hatch. "Capitaneus! The spectrum boat is in the distance." Julius waved at Ngozi to acknowledge the call, then rolled the papyrus onto the spindle of the scroll before ascending the ladder to the deck.

  Indeed, far in the distance, the speculatoria of Decimus was surging across the waves, the wind at the best quarter for the little vessel. In the part of an hour, it had pulled the sail to match the pace of the Petrel, the officers shouting across the narrow separation to each other. "The horseman left two hours after sunrise," called Decimus. "He will be in Antioch by now."

  "Aye," returned the shout of Julius. "Take your station. The morrow will tell the tale."

  With a wave of acknowledgment, the sail on the little boat was quickly raised again and it surged away from its mate. Knowing that some cusp had been reached in their overlong mission to Antioch, the officers walked to gather around Julius without prompting. After watching the little missive boat for a while, now bounding across the water toward the port of Antioch, he turned and said, "Antiochus will have received the message that we are at our place now. On the morrow, his soldiers will seize the port and put an end to the reign of Dionysophanes. At least that is the plan."

  "What of Heraklides, Capitaneus?" asked Kaeso. "Will he not be in the midst of the turmoil?"

  Julius shook his head. "It is my hope that he will not. Before I returned on the speculatoria from Persidium, I sent a message for him to make an occasion for himself to be absent from the compound of the merchant, and with haste. Hopefully, he has done so." He looked again across the waters at the diminishing missive boat, then, "And I have given description of himself to the Commanders of the King, and have received assurance that men without arms will not be slain out of hand. It is in the interest of no one to have a port manned by bird-picked bones."

  To the leader of the Legionaries, Centurion Drusus, he said, "We will make our stance at first light. I hope your men have taken well the lessons learned of the coast of Cyprus."

  "Aye, Sos. We will be ready."

  Turning to his first mate, he ordered, "Take us to stand off the southern point of the port, at a distance to just see the land, and then make change of the sail." With that, he nodded to the men and returned below to his own rest - and thoughts on the morrow.

  The morning light brought a lessened wind, but that was not the only change. The Petrel had somehow aged in the night, as a handsome young woman might appear as an elderly hag after a night of excessive debauchery. The ship, however, had changed only because of the ministrations of the crew. Under the guidance of Flavius, the stores of the vessel had been moved forward and against the dexter side of the hull. The effect was to give the Petrel a stance of being down by the head and listing to some considerable degree. In addition, several loose ropes were dangling from the masthead and trailing from the stern. But, the greatest indication that the trim vessel had become a decrepit trudge, was the torn and flapping sail, attached only at the peak and bottom of the mast.

  In the dawning light of day, Julius rose to the deck to look around at the transformation, shaking his head with some irony of purpose. Flavius walked back to stand beside the Captain, saying with some drollness, "Were I the harbor-master of Neápolis, this ship would be required to wharf at the flensing docks, rather than give peril to the main wharfs by capsizing onto the dock." He shook his head with a sad expression and said, "The spirit of the Petrel may take long in forgiving a crew for this debasement."

  Julius clapped the crewman on the back and said, "Aye, but our faithful sea-steed will forgive us for the profit that our plans will bring us." Now he grinned. "Or, our next berth will be in Hades and far beyond her chastisement of our disuse. Either way, we emerge as victorious." He strode forward to where Kaeso was leaning over the hull, no doubt measuring the effect of the untrimmed hull. "Post a watch to yon port. I wish to know of every sail that appears, even if it is nothing but a stinking fisher."

  Now was just a time for waiting, without any indication of what was happening on land. A few fishing boats appeared, something to be seen on any morning not being consumed by a tempest. Eventually, Ngozi shouted from the forepeak, "Sail standing out." The eyes of Julius did not match the fineness of the black man - nor did any on the ship - but he could see an ordinary merchant moving west out of the harbor. "Another in follow. A settee from the slant of the cloth."

  Now Judoc pointed, calling out, "There, a ratis outbound."

  "The Masters have all taken the same thought together," said Kaeso, more to fill the time than give information of use. "It would seem that the steady airs and bright morning are to be taken advantage of to begin a voyage."
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